History of the United Netherlands, 1588c

bout 30,000. The daily expense of
the fleet was estimated by Don Diego de Pimentel at 12,000 ducats a-day,
and the daily cost of the combined naval and military force under Farnese
and Medina Sidonia was stated at 30,000 ducats.

The size of the ships ranged from 1200 tons to 300. The galleons, of
which there were about sixty, were huge round-stemmed clumsy vessels,
with bulwarks three or four feet thick, and built up at stem and stern,
like castles. The galeasses of which there were four--were a third
larger than the ordinary galley, and were rowed each by three hundred
galley-slaves. They consisted of an enormous towering fortress at the
stern; a castellated structure almost equally massive in front, with
seats for the rowers amidships. At stem and stern and between each of
the slaves' benches were heavy cannon. These galeasses were floating
edifices, very wonderful to contemplate. They were gorgeously decorated.
There were splendid state-apartments, cabins, chapels, and pulpits in
each, and they w